Last week I was lucky enough to be able to attend the “140 Characters Conference” (#140conf) at the Indigo O2 in London, created and hosted by Jeff Pulver (@jeffpulver on Twitter). If you can’t tell from the name, the conference was focused on Twitter (140 referring to the amount of characters that one is limited to for each Twitter update).

There was a really interesting mix of speakers, all of whom talked about how they use Twitter, what it means to them and how it has shaped the way in which they communicate. For example, Babs Rangaiah (@Babs26), VP of Global Comms Planning at Unilever, said that Twitter is the “best business tool”, and that Unilever now see it as “part of the job”. Kodak (@KodakCB) use Twitter to “engage, educate and excite” their audiences. Manny Norte (@MannyNorte), a Kiss 100 dj, says that he discovers new music and artists through Twitter, and Endemol (@jonalmond) are going so far as to create a Twitter app called “Tweemote”.  So, suffice to say, some pretty big companies and institutions around the world see Twitter as integral to how they do business.

For me, the real take home message was something that  most of the speakers were leaning towards, but that Stephen Fry (@Stephenfry) succintly and eloquently summarised: “Twitter is human-shaped, not business-shaped”.  Although it might seem like an obvious statement, it is something that alot of marketers forget when they put together their “Twitter Strategies”. However, judging from the conference case studies, it is the people that remember Twitter’s ‘human shape’ that reap the dividends of communicating through this platform.

There were over 60 speakers, and unfortunately I cannot summarise everything that they said, but I will leave you with some soundbites from the conference, and a video filmed by Gabe Mac (@gabemac). I have also included links to some other online coverage about the event if you would like more information.

Jeff Pulver (@jeffpulver) – Creator, #140conf

• “Listen, connect, share, engage”

Babs Rangaiah (@Babs26) – VP Global Comms Planning, Unilever

• “Twitter is like a live journal”
• “It has replaced RSS”

Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) Writer/Author/Actor

• “Twitter is human shaped, not business shaped”
• “Don’t deny the internet the pleasure of your humanity”

Andrew Keen (@ajkeen) – Author

• “Power doesn’t dissappear, it’s redistributed”
• “The internet is redistributing power”
• “Authenticity is the new currency of power”

Jeffrey Hayzlett (@jeffreyhayzlett) – CMO, Kodak

• “Kodak have a ‘four E’ strategy for engaging with social media: Engage, Educate, Excite, Evangelise”
• “There is a girl in the office called Tina, who is followed on Twitter by guys who only follow girls called Tina. Now, I don’t care what country you’re from – that’s weird.”

Rachel Fellows (@kelloggsuk) Head of Corporate Comms, Kelloggs

• “Twitter is one giant focus group”

Tony Mattson - Group Business Director UM London

• ” Enrich, Evolve, Maintain, Refresh, Participate, Leverage”

Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan) – President, New Marketing Labs

• “Promote other people 12x as much as you promote yourself”

JP Rangaswami (@jobsworth) Cheif scientist, BT group

• “Twitter is for “alerts, advice and assistance”

West Midlands police (@wmpolice)

• “Twitter is like a freight train – get on it, or get hit by it”

More coverage from London’s #140conf-

• Jeff Pulver’s Blog -  The week that was – A look back at the #140conf
• Jeff Pulver’s Blog – 140conf – Coverage by the media (this post contains links to more coverage)
• Mark’s Technology news blog – 140conf talks Twitter in London
• Barney Stephens – A day at 140conf
• Mirror.co.uk – Big Brother maker endemol working on Twitter app